The move is in response to police figures which show that violent crime in Rochdale is expected to rise by 11 per cent from 5,021 to 5,578 in the coming year. The prediction is based on the crimes committed so far in the period under review.

In the Pennines Township the situation is expected to get much worse. Council bosses and police officers expect violent crime to go up by nearly 37 per cent.

"Much of the rise in violent crime is due to more alcohol-related incidents in town centres being reported. We will be using this as evidence when we ask the council for a boroughwide ban on alcohol on the streets."

"There has also been a rise in the reporting of incidents of domestic violence."

Councillor Brosnan said: "The fear of crime isn't decreasing in Rochdale and Chief Superintendent Sweeney wants to be on the streets, so we're going to go to different places to examine crime issues."

"The rise in violent crime shows how reporting procedures have improved, as people no longer think they are wasting their time ringing the police. But this isn't tackling the underlying causes of these crimes, such as drugs."

Crime targets have been set between the police and the council as part of a public service agreement the council has reached with the government. If the council reaches all its targets across all its department by 2005 it could earn a £5.2M windfall from Whitehall.

Burglaries and vehicle crime are down in Rochdale and officers believe they will reach their target to reduce vehicle crime by 20 per cent by 2005.